Manuscript Location

University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library

Place of Origin

United States ➔ North Carolina ➔ Fayetteville

Date of Composition

1841

Description

C. B. (Charles Beatty) Mallett (1816-1872), of Fayetteville, North Carolina, married Margaret Winslow Wright in 1841. The couple had eight children, all but one of whom lived to adulthood. Following his wife's death, Mallett married a second time, in 1862.  In association with his father, Charles Peter Mallett (1792-1873), C. B. Mallett became a cotton manufacturer. He was also a stockholder in the Western North Carolina Railroad and its president from 1855 to 1868, a coal mine operator, and a partner in two iron works. In March 1865, General Sherman's army destroyed all of Mallett's businesses as well as his home and its possessions, forcing Mallett into bankruptcy in 1868. Until his death in 1872, Mallett attempted to raise grapes and produce wine on his plantation property. 

The Mallett family recipe book is dated 1841, the year of Mallett's first marriage. It contains both culinary and practical household recipes, some handwritten and some clipped from printed sources. The food recipes mostly concern puddings, cakes, breads, and preserves. Some of the recipes are attributed and provide the cost of their ingredients. The exact authorship of the book has not been determined.